Force of Nature
by delightisadream
Summary: You're a force of nature, look at what you've done. /or/ Some of the strongest bonds start with silence. {Now on Wattpad}


**I'm not exactly sure why I got so into this, but I did. This ship is kinda crack too, and I just...I don't know. I'm screwed. _Royally_ screwed. And if you stick around long enough to read this, then you'll get the reference there. ;)**

* * *

Red curls flying everywhere _and_ with blue eyes; he'd be crazy not to stare. Besides, what else was he supposed to do?

It was a sunny day, and Deb was in the kitchen with Frenchie. His older cousin never paid him any mind, so why should he be interested in his "wonderful, amazing, mouth-watering cooking"? He preferred sandwiches anyhow. And then there was the sight across the street.

Two girls and a boy. What game were they playing? The black-haired girl swung something around as the boy ducked, shielding Little Red. _Huh. Little Red._ He liked that. Maybe if he ever talked to her, he could use that nickname. There was a flash of movement that caught his eye. He could've sworn he saw some cooking utensils, but they were probably buried in the dirt now.

He rested his chin on his fist and let his eyes close, trying to imprint the scene into his mind, but adding himself in to the fun. Was there a reason he didn't have anyone to play with? Wasn't a twin supposed to be a God-given playmate? Not in his case, apparently.

He only closed his eyes for a second. But when he opened them next it was because a drop of rain had hit him, and, looking across the street, the trio had long since abandoned their game. He wasn't allowed to cross the street yet, but no one ever drove on Espanola Way. He got to his feet and started across.

He heard tires screeching, yelling, and suddenly his mom had scooped him up in her arms. His dad scolded him that night. He didn't think cars went around here, but he was wrong. He almost got hit by a cab leaving town.

~ . ~

Rudy was a lovely playmate – about three years ago.

Now eight years old, she saw things a little differently. She didn't remember much about when Talia left (she wouldn't have remembered her name if her father hadn't mentioned it), but she was a girl, and she needed one of those around. Rudy never wanted to play with her dolls anymore. She had tried to argue by saying his hair looked like one of her Barbies, but she might have ended up making things worse.

Makeup looked kind of cool. Her mother insisted she was too young, so one day after another average day of third grade, she stole her mom's makeup bag and headed outside. Dolores loved her, so she knew she wouldn't mind her playing outside of Lola's. Wednesdays they were open, but Dolores had some appointment and not many customers had come in. Her mother always told her to look out for strangers, but this was safe, right? She thought so.

Wind swept her hair up into her face as she opened one of the cases, accidentally cracking it a bit. _Mom won't know, right?_ She pushed the locks closest to her eyes behind her ears and tucked the rest between her chin and shoulder. She tried to close one eye, but ultimately couldn't do it and opted for dropping the eye shadow onto the ground to free one hand up, which she used to hold her eye open. The other smeared a finger into the darkest shade she could find, and then proceeded to rub it all over her eyelid and then some. Soon the side of her nose and an entire eyebrow were jet black. She blinked in the window, attempting to recall if her mother looked like this when she wore makeup.

When someone called her pretty lady, she froze. She didn't need to turn around; the window showed all. A short-ish man, about 5'2, was standing right behind her, hands wiggling out of his pockets to hover in the air above her hips. Her breath caught as she thought hard: what was she supposed to yell in case something bad happened?

Luckily nothing did. The older boy from the restaurant across the street pushed the man away. His little twin cousins stood behind him, fear evident in their eyes. He rapped on the window, catching multiple customers' attention, including the new waiter Will. Will hurried outside and shooed the creep away just as she turned around, starting to shake. The twins each took one of her hands and stood in a line. Will began to ask her questions.

After what felt like an eternity, she got the opportunity to thank the older boy – he introduced himself as Frenchie – and then hugged the twins. The boy held onto her a little longer than the girl, and was it just her imagination or did he keep staring at her? The heat rising to her cheeks made her forget for a moment that her mom would have a fit when she found out what had, and almost had, happened.

~ . ~

He was turning eleven, and so was Deb.

This would mark the first year of separate birthday parties. Frenchie had convinced their parents to let him cook for them, but they decided he'd only be able to serve one party – and while he wasn't thrilled that party happened to be his, he was excited about something else.

All the other boys in his grade had finally moved on past the cooties stage with girls (he himself never seemed to have a problem with it), and he just knew he had to take advantage of that. What better way to do so than to invite Little Red to his party? He didn't bother to think of any other ways.

At school, Deb was handing out pretty invitations, while he chose to give his buddies a smack to the back, attaching a sticky note with the date and time. At least until it neared recess at the end of the day, at which point he became a ball of nerves. He passed it off as gas, but his hands were sweaty and his heartbeat kept jumping around – not to mention he got yelled at numerous times for his foot tapping.

Little Red wasn't in his class, but all fifth-graders had the same recess and he was terrified. He didn't even know her name!

The bell rang and everyone bolted outside. The fresh air was just what they needed to get their energy out right before going home, and usually he played soccer to do so, but not today. His throat started closing up and he feared he might pass out, but he put one foot in front of the other and made his way to the girl. Why had she gotten _prettier? And were her eyes like electric?_

He was about ten paces away and had finally swallowed the lump in his throat when Deb and her silent friend Avery rushed over to the group of girls his Little Red was in. He halted and glanced up at the sky, sending a simple prayer to God. He looked back down just as the group dispersed and caught a glimpse of Little Red…clutching one of his sister's fancy invites.

Maybe his prayer had gotten lost in the clouds.

~ . ~

A week before summer break had never felt so cold.

Her throat hurt and the air smelled stale. Even with her arms wrapped around her thin frame she couldn't feel warmth. One quick glance at the thermostat would tell her it was all in her mind. She let out a strangled laugh. _If only it was all in my mind._

"Why?" she had muttered several times already. She bit her lip 'til it drew blood, just so she could feel something – anything.

Her phone chimed from somewhere on the floor. She hadn't checked her messages all day, but she knew who that text tone belonged to. Dragging herself out of bed, she sniffled and grabbed a tissue as she bent to retrieve her phone. She pressed in a button and saw her most recent notification.

 **Rudy: do you want company?**

She sucked in a breath and slid her thumb over the screen, typing a response.

 **I'll be fine.**

Apparently Rudy wasn't buying it; truthfully though, who would?

 **We can mess around with makeup; Ik you wanted to do that before.**

That reminded her. She locked her phone and slipped it into the waistband of her pajama shorts, making her way over to her dresser. She squatted down and pulled open the bottom drawer. Inside was a wrapped present. She shut her eyes momentarily, wondering how long the tears could stay still. Opening them again, she fished the tiny gift out of the empty drawer and plopped down on the carpet. She flipped it over and slipped the card out from underneath the bow she'd made nearly a month ago. Sniffing again, she brought the tissue to her nose for precaution. Careful not to rip it, she opened the envelope and slid out the message.

 _Happy Birthday! I'm so proud of how far you've come, and how far I know you'll be able to go. You are such a fighter and I thank my lucky stars that God gave me you as a mother._

 _I love you Mom._

 _Love, your ladybug x3_

She didn't know what was going through her mind when she wrote this. Where did she find that optimism? She choked on another sob.

The chime sounded again and she reluctantly took her phone out.

 **Val, if you need any comfort, I'm here.**

She rubbed one eye and coughed, then responded with one hand.

 **I know, but someone else needs comfort rn too. Ily Rudy, and thanks.**

She set her phone down and stood up, hearing one of her back muscles crack. She padded across her room and opened the door, rounding the corner to the living room. There sat her father on the couch, old scrapbooks surrounding him and tissues everywhere. He looked up at his daughter and nearly burst into tears right there.

No words were exchanged as she went over to him and curled up into his side. Together they let themselves cry until no more tears would fall.

~ . ~

The storm was getting stronger.

While he never thought he would, he found comfort in the fact that Talia was safe with Jayden in the truck. Where was Rudy? His mind only got sidetracked for a second from his original thought. He was probably with Deb and Frenchie, who were safe in Lola's last he checked. Chris and Avery hadn't been around lately, so he assumed they were in a good place. And Julie and Rocky? They hadn't left Dolores and Michael's side. They should all be fine.

 _So where the hell was Val?_

The rain pounded on his face harder as he ran around the corner. As much as he didn't like to think of it, perhaps she got stuck under a trashcan like Dolores did a year ago. Skidding to a stop on the wet pavement, he searched in and under all the trashcans. No sign of Little Red. He stopped to catch his breath, bent over with his hands on his knees. Where did he see her last? Leaving Lola's early that morning. (Where was she going?) She had looked kind of mad, and Talia wouldn't talk about it, so all he could assume was that they had a cat fight. He could make out an image of her in long sleeves and jeans, so she shouldn't be too soaked if she was out in the rain. Then again, when did she start wearing long sleeves? It seemed as though as long as he'd known her – or as long as he'd seen her across the street playing – she'd always wore anything _but_ long sleeves. The first time he could remember was a few months ago.

The rain starting getting harder. Soon enough it'd be hail. He lifted his head and sped back around the corner. There were no cars in sight as he ran across the street. Maybe she was behind Fuccinelli's – unlikely, admittedly, but where else was he supposed to look? After a quick once-over of the exterior, he decided she wouldn't have pulled a Talia and went in through the vents, so she must have walked right in. If she _was_ in Fuccinelli's, that was.

He ran back around to the front as the back door was locked, and plowed right into the restaurant. The dining room had one light on, and he couldn't recall any of his family members turning it on before they all jumped ship this morning. A meeting with all the restaurant/food truck owners or something. He heard a single movement come from the kitchen.

Why hadn't he checked here earlier?

He strode across the floor and pushed open the swing door just in time to hear a drawer snap shut and see red curls fly as Valerie spun around to see who was there. His gaze traveled past her to the drawer she had closed. He knew what it held, as Frenchie made everyone memorize the order of the kitchen.

"Hey," she said cheerily, sending him a smile that should have warmed him up immediately.

"Hi." He shuffled his feet, then pointed at the drawer. "What were you doing with the drawers?"

She stuttered but tried to regain her composure. "Oh, I, uh, took this, um, class on…" She seemed to be grasping at straws, and he noticed her hands were shaking. "…organizational…skills…I figured I could help out a bit."

He slowly nodded, trying to play it in his mind to see if any of it made sense. It didn't. "Ah. Okay, cool. Thanks." He sidled over to the drawer she had shut and opened it, eyes running over all the intact knives. He opened the drawer to its right, where nothing was moved either. He turned around and leaned against the counter. "So, uh, what exactly did you organize?"

He watched as her eyes flitted around uncomfortably. "Uh…I wasn't stealing if that's what you're thinking…" She moved her hands around like she was jittery.

"No, no, of course not." He looked up a little from her hands and noticed her sleeves were rolled up. The next thing he noticed made his stomach drop. "Val–"

She hurried to tug her sleeves down. "That's nothing. I, uh, got a few scratches. From…Pricilla…"

His eyes travelled up to meet hers. She was scared. "Is this because of," he coughed into his fist, trying so hard not to scare her off, "a fight with Talia?"

She shook her head. "No. No, it's…" Every time she looked into his eyes she froze. Maybe his gaze was too intense. "Not really," she justified, swallowing.

He dared to take a step forward. "Is…everything…"

Val dipped her head. "It's been hard, you know." Her voice was barely a whisper. "I just…I miss her, and…"

He nodded although she didn't see. He got closer. "I know."

She choked back a sob. The roaring wind from outside made her unravel quicker. "Ty, I thought taking all these classes would help but they _don't,_ and I can't–"

"Val."

She looked up to come face to face with him. Her bottom lip quivered.

He lifted his hands to rest just above her elbows. "It's okay," he said quietly.

In that moment, even with all his wet hair and drenched clothes, Val couldn't take it. She hurtled herself into his chest and let the tears come out.

He wrapped his arms around her and nearly let loose himself as he felt her entire body shake. The howling of the wind grew even louder as they sank into a pile on the floor, wet hair, long sleeves, and all.

~ . ~

Her father got her some help.

Her breakdown with Tyson made her truly come to terms with how dangerous what she was doing was, and she asked her dad to do something. First they went to a doctor a few days after the storm, then a week later they both started seeing a therapist.

She never wanted to talk about her mother. She thought that once she started talking about everything, all the quiet nights she spent sobbing would become too much. She didn't want to recount what happened. Even telling Ty what she tried to do had ended in a sob fest – and that hurricane hadn't needed anymore watershed. Fuccinelli's kitchen was completely soaked. A few windows had shattered in the dining room. The faucet gave way to sewer water again. All in all, she'd felt terrible. Like she was a burden.

But the therapist was helping her see things in a new way. There was nothing she could do about her mom, and harming herself wouldn't help matters. If her mother was strong enough to fight cancer, then she was strong enough to fight cutting.

It had taken some time, and she wasn't sure how she felt about Talia glaring daggers at her when Ty tried to casually ask her how she was doing. She hadn't wanted to tell anyone about what happened, and he had respected her wishes. But the others kept giving each other little glances, like they "knew" something. The thing that really pissed her off was the fact that Talia had Jayden. She and Ty had broken up, so why was she acting all bitchy?

But she was always happy, and she wasn't going to let all of this stop her. Sure, she faked smiles here and then, a giggle every once in a while; no one seemed to noticed that much.

And when she found out Rudy had asked Debbie out, she made sure to voice her encouragement a lot. She was surprised to realize her happiness wasn't false, and she knew her therapist would be thrilled. He'd finally moved on from Talia, and it was a good thing too – secretly Val thought her ego couldn't take all the attention from three guys. She still flirted regularly with Jayden, and she seemed to be on good terms with Tyson. Even so, her friend knew that if she got the chance she'd jump back to Ty in a heartbeat.

She was proven right.

A few weeks had gone by, and as soon as school started, Ty asked Talia to the back-to-school dance. Val had long since abandoned the student council, so she was glad she didn't have to prepare the perfect dance. It wasn't a shocker that Talia had accepted, or that Jayden was jealous. Debbie was going with Rudy, and Val tried to stand back from all the couples.

She needed to focus all her attention on recovering.

~ . ~

Things seemed to be back to normal.

He knew Talia was still on the fence. Things wouldn't be the same if she wasn't constantly between him and Jayden. One way he could feel for his fellow guy; he knew how badly it sucked to not get so much as a chance with the girl. Maybe if he had been the one to ask her to the dance a few months ago, they'd be together instead. But he wasn't quick enough.

As odd as it seemed, his sister dating Rudy felt like a second nature. Because of their newfound relationship, Avery chose to hang around Val more and Chris started going bowling every Saturday with them and Jayden. He would have loved to be in those outings, but he had chosen the taken life, and that meant double dates with "Rubie". (The first time he heard Chris call them "Dudy" he nearly cried.)

Nothing was bad, but nothing was happening. Beside the fact that his girlfriend and Lorena finally made an agreement on Lola's inventory and uniforms, he noticed one thing, and it wasn't even about his girlfriend: Val had started wearing tank tops again.

At first it had started off slow. He noticed she still wore long sleeves for a quite a long time, but after calling the therapist a couple hundred times, he came to the conclusion that the cuts would heal in time and he didn't have to worry. Even so, he lost a lot of sleep over the next two weeks.

Then she started wearing short sleeves and his worries began to ease. The cuts on her arms were barely noticeable at all, and his heart soared with pride. She was recovering. She would be fine. Little Red would be fine.

When she had actually made it back to tank tops, he nearly spun her around and sang hallelujah. Her arms had strengthened up a bit and the cuts were long gone except for one scar. She looked beautiful. Everything about her recovery was beautiful.

And still he couldn't say anything.

She had wanted to keep her condition on the down low, and he respected that. It became quite easy to lie to Talia about why he always asked Val if she was alright. He wasn't sure if that was good thing, but he felt great. At least until the end of January.

Val had made it into the new year cut-free, and he sent her congratulatory texts whenever he could. She thought it was silly, but he couldn't forget how she called it cute once before reverting back to her usual response. When January 21st came, posters for the Valentine's Day dance started showing up around their high school. He already knew his date was set, even though Talia had been giving Jayden these heart eyes all week. It should have unsettled him, but it didn't.

One day after walking to school with Debbie, as she and Rudy were in a rough patch and she needed a shoulder (not to cry on; more to punch, but her brother would have to do), he got a sight he wasn't quite ready for: there was Val, hair curled per usual, in a dress. That's not what caught his eye. The guy she was talking _to_ was what caught his eye.

He'd seen him before. In fact, he knew him from the soccer team – Blake. Blake was closer friends with Chris, and that must've been the way Val knew him. Not for the first time Ty cursed Saturday night bowling. Even from across the hallway he could tell they were flirting, and that was not something he was prepared for. His stomach churned when Blake motioned to the nearest Valentine's Day dance poster, and then Ty had left his twin by herself. He had to get to class.

Yeah. That was it.

~ . ~

Blake asking her to the dance was not what she expected.

As long as she could remember, no guys had been interested in her. When she first met Rudy she thought that he might have had a crush on her, but they were younger then and soon she realized he was just fascinated with her hair color. She wasn't crushed; she didn't like him that way either. But that marked the start of her unlucky streak.

She'd had her fair hand of crushes, but those were all in middle school. None lasted very long as she was merely admiring them from afar and hadn't really known any of them, but that didn't mean it didn't suck. So when Chris had introduced her to Blake, she hadn't paid much attention. She and Jayden were too busy making their weekly bet on who'd win at bowling. Another ten bucks came her way later that night; her bowling course really had helped her out.

She arrived at school the following week to be caught by the arm by Blake in the hallway. They started talking, and he told her he originally thought she and Jayden were a thing. Just the day before he'd seen him chatting it up with Talia on Espanola Way, and, in fear of him being a player, he confronted him privately. Soon he realized that Jayden was only interested in Talia, and had come to ask Val to the dance.

She accepted pretty quickly. He seemed like a nice guy, and there was plenty of time to get to know him before the dance – after all, it was only the 21st and the dance wasn't until the 14th. This would be fun.

Her therapist was thrilled. This was just what she needed to get her mind off of things. She had almost suffered a relapse, as her father's first birthday without his wife had just gone by, but they'd worked through it. She was happy. Really happy.

~ . ~

He knew he was selfish.

She was happy. Really happy. And yet all he could think about was how she didn't need _Blake_ to be happy.

He'd tried to confront Chris about it once, but he hadn't gotten very far before his friend accused him of liking Val. He shut the whole theory down and they went to soccer practice. He tried with all his might not to glare at Blake the entire time, but judging by the looks Chris kept giving him, he wasn't sure he did a good job.

He should've been glad that she was in such a good mood, after everything with her mom and her issues. He should've been glad one of his kinda-friends was so good for her. He should've been glad because of Blake he got to see her face light up with one of her brilliant smiles all the time. But he just couldn't be.

And for that reason, a week before the dance, he gave Jayden a heads-up that he might want to wear something snazzy to the dance.

~ . ~

Earrings could make or break her entire outfit, and she wasn't sure what to go with.

Talia wasn't answering her phone – no doubt she didn't have it on her person, because when did she? – so she had sent Rudy a picture. However, he didn't have too keen of a fashion sense, and plus he had some work to do.

It was a few hours before the dance, and Val wanted to go over her outfit to make sure it looked perfect. Her last resort was Rudy because she knew Debbie was upset about her breakup up with him, and she didn't want to add to the pain. But now that an hour had gone by and she still wasn't sure, she seriously contemplated doing it anyway.

Sighing, she scrolled through her conversations until she reached Tyson's. They hadn't texted in awhile, but he knew more things about her than others right now, so why not? She took a picture of herself with the earrings in and then with them out, sending them together with a question mark. Hopefully he'd be of more help than everyone else was.

Just then her phone chimed and she looked at the picture Rudy sent her. In it he was still holding his guitar, but he was in a suit and Debbie's eyes were all puffy, their hands intertwined. No doubt had he serenaded her and they were going to the dance. Val smiled despite her dilemma and sent a bunch of magical emojis in response.

Being happy all the time could be tiring. Her dad popped his head in to remind her of her curfew and then left within a second.

Bubbles started sounding from her phone, and she picked it up again, twirling one earring around in her hand.

 **Either way looks great.**

The way her stomach erupted should have been alarming.

 **That's not very helpful yanno. XD**

 **What about the earrings you got for your bday? Those might go with the dress?**

She set down the earring she was holding and shuffled through her stud box. Finding the black-studded hearts, she smiled. Deciding not to mention how he'd been the one to give them to her – he probably forgot anyway – she sent him a response with a picture of the earrings in.

 **I should've asked you first. :D**

 ***thumbs up***

She felt her smile widen, then went to straighten her hair.

~ . ~

The sight of her should have made his heart explode.

He had no difficulty in telling her she looked beautiful, because she did. She was always this way. Always beautiful. But her character wasn't; at least not to him, and that's what he was starting to realize.

He and Talia and entered the dance with their hands intertwined. It should have made him giddy – it sure was making her giddy. And then he caught Jayden's eye from across the room. As soon as the other spicemaster made his way over to them, Talia's face lit up so much. She may feel giddy with him, but with Jayden is was almost indescribable.

They didn't dance much at first, and even then it was with their whole class. Jayden was around them the entire time, and he knew it should have bothered him. But he'd been the one to tell him to look extra nice, and while he wondered what the spicemaster thought he was up to, he brought this upon himself.

His sister and Rudy found them soon enough, Chris and then Avery following suit. He was extremely glad Deb had her boyfriend back; they really did look good together. And Ty wasn't sure, but the way Avery kept glancing at Chris made him think someone had a crush. Well he was right about that.

And he knew it by the way his heart exploded when he saw her walk in.

She was wearing the earrings. THE earrings. Did she remember he had bought them for her? Maybe not, but the fact that she was on a date with one of his soccer buds and was wearing a gift from _him_ made him so smug he started to acknowledge the fact that he was a Fuccinelli.

They didn't join the group immediately. He kept looking back at them, and he didn't particularly care if anyone noticed. When they did, though, he was nearly overwhelmed. She came to a stop next to him, and he wasn't sure if he could smell her perfume or her shampoo – either way it was heavenly. Talia never wore perfume, as far as he knew.

The next hour passed by with the group talking, laughing, and eating snacks. None of them had really danced until the DJ announced he wanted everyone to switch around and dance with someone who wasn't their date. Ty wasn't sure how this made anyone else feel, but he was over the moon. He tried to wait a few seconds so he didn't look too excited, but by the time he turned to look at Little Red, she was with Rudy and his twin was locking gazes with his.

Talia and Jayden, as expected, were already off together, dancing so close it should have made him uneasy. But just like everything else that night, just because it should didn't mean it would. Blake was trying to talk to Avery, and Chris went off to the snack bar again.

As the song began, he started to laugh. "I guess we're the losers who dance with their sibling, huh?" he joked, moving a little bit faster to irritate Deb. He knew how much she liked to keep tempo.

Debbie stared at him, eyebrow quirked. "Who are you at the dance with?"

His laughter ceased. "What do you mean? You know I came with Talia."

She tightened her grip on his shoulders, trying to slow him down. He was _way_ off beat. "No, I know that. I was wondering if you," she glanced over her shoulder at the two spicemasters who appeared to be having a serious yet sweet conversation on the dance floor, "or Talia, for that matter, knew you came together."

Ty playfully rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we know. And you came with Rudy. We were told to dance with someone _else_ , Deb. This isn't strange."

She pressed her lips together, forming a straight line. "Sure. You're right. This _isn't_ strange. Because I haven't seen you look a Talia with as much joy in your eyes as Jayden is right now since freshman year."

He nearly bit his tongue. "Deb, what are you talking about? She and I broke up once, so things are just getting back to normal."

"You don't believe that, Ty."

He shut his eyes and sighed, knowing what she said was true. But he couldn't tell her that. "You're wrong, Deb. Everything's fine."

She stared at him. "Did you know that I used to have a crush on Jayden?"

He may have snorted. "Yeah, everyone did. I kinda suspected."

She tilted her head. "Not everyone. And it seems like up until recently…no one paid attention to the girl who didn't."

He knew where she was heading, so he steered her away. "I mean, Julie did skip all the way to ninth grade, so she deserves the attent–"

Debbie cut him off. "Ty, she got bumped up to the tenth grade! You haven't listened to the Parras enough lately to even know the _grade?"_

He made an annoyed noise. "So I got the grade wrong. Who car–"

"You also got the girl wrong."

He gave her a weird look. "Uh, no, I'm pretty sure Julie's the genius."

"Uh, yeah, I'm pretty sure you know I'm not talking about Julie."

He let his eyes wander past her head until Val came into sight. Rudy was spinning her around and he could hear their laughter from there. When he looked back at his sister, she had a knowing look on her face.

"I was looking at your date, Deb, calm down," he tried to pass it off.

She shook her head. "You weren't looking at _my_ date, Ty. And you weren't looking at yours either."

He groaned. "Could you stop _interrogating me?_ It's really annoying."

Her eyes flitted to her left and back. "Is _that_ really annoying too?"

He followed her gaze and saw Jayden dipping Talia. It should have been. It should have been infuriating. He should've felt destructive. But one look back at Deb told him they both knew he didn't. He sucked in a breath. "So what? Jayden flirts with her all the time; it's nothing new."

"Yeah, it's not new," she agreed, clasping her hands together behind his neck. "I just wanna know when you stopped caring."

He didn't answer, because truthfully he didn't know when. All he knew is he hadn't cared for a long time.

"Who'd you want to dance with, Tyson?"

He had no clue if the song was ever going to end. How long had been, anyway? It felt like forever.

"Did you even want to come to the dance with Talia?"

His eyes snapped back to his twin's. "Debbie, stop."

She didn't. "C'mon, you can tell me – seems like you can't tell anyone else."

"Debbie!" He dropped his hands from her hips and ripped hers away from his neck. "I swear to God, if you don't stop right now I'm going to leave."

She might as well have looking straight through his soul; her eyes were making him that nervous. "I think you and I both know you don't want to leave while Blake's still here."

His pulse was racing erratically and he wanted to scream. This was too much. Everything was too much. He knew with how things were going he'd be in deep hell soon enough, but hearing someone else recount just how screwed he was made him scared. "Deb–"

"Ty, if you don't love Talia, then you need to tell her."

He tried to make some sense. "Love? Deb, we're only seventeen."

She let out a laugh. "Yeah, we're 'only' seventeen. But when I look at Rudy, I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with him. _That's_ why I take our fights so hard." She took a breath and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I know you must think I'm crazy or PMSing or something, but I'm in _love_ , Ty." Her eyes pierced his. "I know it when I see it."

He froze for a second, then started to shake his head. "No. No you don't. You may be in love, but you don't know how I feel."

She blinked. "Ty, take one look at your _date_ and Jayden and try to tell me they don't love each other."

"No, they're not in lo–"

"I didn't say that. I don't think they're there yet. I said they _love_ each other, and it's in a different way than you and Talia do."

He sucked in his bottom lip and just breathed for a moment. This was all too much. "Please, just stop."

She moaned. "Come _on_ , Ty! You know what you need to do!"

The song finally wound down, and the beat was replaced with a loud, jumpy one. He silently sent up a thankful prayer and looked back at his twin.

"Ty?" she asked as the group slowly started making its way back together.

"I know, okay?" he snapped. When Talia emerged with Jayden, he muttered, "We need to talk," and took her by the arm.

He had wanted to get through the night first. But he knew as soon as he saw Talia dancing with Jayden that he'd made the right choice. It was just going to have to happen before the night was over.

~ . ~

Dancing with Rudy was a lot of fun, but admittedly she was glad to get back to her date. As she went past Debbie, she heard her tell her boyfriend, "We're gonna have a problem."

Blake came to her side, scratching the back of his neck. "How was dancing with Rudy?"

She chuckled. "Not the smoothest of sailing, but it was fun. What about Avery? How was she?"

He brought his hand down and coughed. "Um, she didn't really talk to me the whole time? Not sure why, but I think she was looking at the snack table."

Val laughed. "Maybe she was hungry. Girls get really hungry."

His laugh made her smile, but then she looked over at Rudy and Debbie. Were they fighting again? Not on her watch; they were perfect for each other. "Hey, uh, do you think we could talk to Deb and Rudy for a little bit?"

With one glance over at them he became uncomfortable. "Uh, I think they're in the middle of something."

She nodded. "I know, let's go." She grabbed his hand and headed over to the "happy couple".

Rudy saw them coming first, to which he nudged Deb and she shut up. "Hi guys," she greeted with a syrupy smile. "How's it going?"

Val's eyebrows furrowed. _What's with the change?_ "Good. How are you two?"

Rudy nodded once. "We're great." As if to put on a show, he put a hand on the small of Debbie's back.

Blake coughed again. "Really? Cuz, uh, we kind of saw you fighting…"

Debbie blinked. "Oh, no we weren't fighting! We were just discussing some things."

Valerie gave her a look. "Are you sure? Because I took a, um… _class_ on therapy, and I could help you guys out."

Rudy shook his head. "No, thanks. We're fine. See?" He turned his girlfriend to him and pecked her on the lips.

Blake wrung his hands out. "Alright then, that's good. Now if we could go, Val, that'd be great because I feel a little awkward."

She cringed. "Sure." They took off, and she tried not to pay attention to the way Rudy and Debbie started up whatever their argument was about again.

The next few minutes they danced around goofily, and ended up in a secluded corner. Overall she'd had a wonderful night. Her therapist would eat this up. She knew social activity was part of their healing plan. Just as she was thinking this, Blake leaned down and their lips met.

She grinned into the kiss. It was sweet – no fireworks, but sweet. This whole night was sweet. When had she ever been so happy?

So of course, the moment had to be broken by her cell phone buzzing in her shoe.

She jumped back, apologizing. She fished her phone out and held it up to show Blake that someone was calling her.

"Why would Talia be calling you right now?" he asked, heat rising to his cheeks.

She looked at the phone then, and sure enough the display name said **Talia Parra.** Of course Talia would interrupt her first kiss. "I don't know, but hold on." She pressed a button and held the phone up to her ear. "Hello?" She really wanted to ask _what do you want_ in a snarky tone, but figured that might make things more embarrassing.

"Tyson just broke up with me!"

Her mouth must have formed a perfect _O._ "What? Why?" Blake looked just as confused, although from Talia's volume Val guessed he must have heard what she said.

"I don't know!" She sounded pissed. "All he would tell me is he wasn't in love with me and that he couldn't lead me on. Pfft. Like I thought he was in love. _I'm_ not even in love!"

Valerie bit her lip, pleading Blake with her eyes not to be mad. "To be fair, he could be jealous because of Jayden."

"What?!"

"I mean, you guys were getting pretty cozy tonight."

"Ugh, Val, we were _supposed_ to dance with other people! You danced with Rudy!"

"Yeah, but the way we danced wasn't romantic. Yours was _intense."_

"I am sick and tired of everyone telling me something's going on between us!"

"Talia, everyone tells you that because there _is_ something going on between you two! Can you please stop denying it?"

"Excuse me?!"

Jayden hustled over to the two. "Hey, have you guys seen Talia? I, uh, think I need to talk to her about a few things."

Blake bit his lip. "Boy, this is awkward."

Valerie moved her phone away from her mouth for a second and Talia's yelling become noticeable. "Tyson just broke up with her," she whispered.

Jayden put a hand to his forehead. "THAT must've been why he told me to wear something nice tonight."

"What?"

Blake's face contorted. "Wait, I don't get why he'd tell you to–"

Jayden put his arms out. "At first I thought he was making a pass at me–"

"He's not gay," Valerie cut in.

"What are you talking about?!" Talia's voice came through the phone.

Jayden pointed to it. "Is that Talia?'

Blake started to nod and before Val could refuse, Jayden took the phone out of her hands and said, "Talia?"

Some loud noise.

"Yeah, it's me. Listen we gotta talk about something…" And he walked away.

Val sighed and rubbed her face. "I'm not getting my phone back tonight."

Blake stepped closer so she could hear him over the music. "Should you go find Talia? She sounds like she really needs to calm down."

She shook her head and looked at him. "No, I'm sure Jayden will do that…or make things worse. Either way, we need to find Tyson to figure out what's going through his mind right now."

Blake nodded. "Okay. I'll check out the west hallway, and you check the east?"

"'Kay." She gave him a thumbs up and headed for the east hall.

~ . ~

What had he just done?

Tyson paced through the hallway. He knew he had to break up with Talia. In fact, he had planned to do it after the dance – that way, with Jayden buttering her up all night she'd hopefully take a hint and stay with one guy.

He wasn't sure how he had expected that to turn out, but breaking up with her _during_ the dance probably added to her rage. _He had broken up with her on Valentine's Day._ She had stormed off a few minutes ago and now he was left to contemplate just how screwed he really was.

How did he think this was going to work? Ever since he was little he was fascinated by a certain girl, and it wasn't Talia. Did he really think he could date her and then move on to someone he'd kind of sort of had a thing for since he was in kindergarten? If he had, he was dead wrong.

It didn't help matters that the girls were friends. Or that one was as stubborn as a mule and the other was loyal as fuck to said mule. None of this would have ever worked out, so why had he done it? He didn't know. He'd liked Talia before – hell, he'd had his first kiss with her, but now everything just felt…wrong.

When had the change occurred?

Maybe it didn't matter. Talia would be mad either way, and now he didn't know what to do. This could resolve itself, but if he ever planned to make a move on his Little Red – _oh gosh, can I stop thinking of her as_ my _Little Red?_ – all of it would rise up again.

He was completely and utterly screwed, no doubt.

He heard shoes come from down the hall and turned to see who was coming. It sounded like they were running.

He just wasn't expecting them to have red hair.

"Val, what are you doing away from the dance?" he asked, trying to hide his nervousness. He couldn't see her now, maybe not for a whole year.

She sped up and stopped right in front of him, running a hand through her hair. "Why'd you break up with Talia?"

Of course she'd be the first to know. He sighed and face palmed. "She told you?"

She nearly laughed. "Yeah, she told me! Then Jayden mentioned something about you wanting him to dress nice tonight, and then he left with my phone."

Ty looked up. "He said that?"

She nodded once.

"Shit..." He rolled his head around. "This is worse than I thought."

Val tried to catch his eye. "Why'd you tell Jayden to look nice tonight?"

"Um…" Ty trained his gaze on the wall. "Would you believe I was making a pass at him?"

Val sighed. "Tyson, I'm serious."

He looked at her. And as soon as he did, he knew he couldn't lie. _Dammit._ "Okay, so I _kinda_ knew that I needed to break up with Talia, so I figured if Jayden looked really good then she'd–"

She held up a hand. "Wait, you planned this?" He sheepishly nodded. "Why? Why'd you 'need' to break up with Talia?"

All he could do was shrug. "I didn't want to lead her on."

Her eyebrows crinkled. "How are you leading her on?"

He scoffed. "I don't love her, so I can't date her."

"Ty, who said anything about love? We're only seventeen."

He pointed. "Yeah! That's what I said, but then Deb got me thinking–"

"Wait, Debbie brought this on?"

"No, I was kinda already planning to break things off…"

"Is that why she and Rudy were arguing?"

He frowned. "They were arguing?"

She nodded. "Yeah, right after everyone switched dates back I saw them fighting, but when Blake and I talked to them everything seemed fine."

He groaned. "Oh please tell me I didn't make them break up again."

Val looked at him weirdly. "Is it just me or do you care more about their relationship than yours?"

He could only meet her eyes. "Um…"

Valerie looked away and sighed. "Are you okay?"

He sighed. "I don't know."

She walked over to the stairs and took a seat, waiting for him to follow her. "Lately you've seemed kinda out of it."

Ty sat next to her. He tried to keep a safe distance between them, but was he hallucinating or did she scoot over? "I feel like I'm just _stuck_ or something." He sighed. "It's like I'm not going anywhere."

She tilted her head and looked at him. "Do you mean because we're going to be seniors next year?"

He stared ahead of him. "I don't know."

She touched his arm. "You seemed alright earlier when I texted you."

He thought for about a split second before saying, "Well you put me at ease, so I don't know." Immediately he wished he could take it back. All he wanted to do was crawl into a hole and die, but his head turned and how he wished it hadn't. Her blue eyes were staring at him, the corners of her mouth turned up.

"You put me at ease too," she admitted, letting part of her hair fall down.

He should've looked away. The way her hair framed her face, the color of her lips, and the brightness of her eyes would soon take him under. Just maybe a lot sooner than he thought.

In one quick movement, he had captured her lips with his own and garnered a quiet gasp. His eyes felt like they were corkscrewed shut as he tried to regain his composure. If anyone saw them he'd be dead. He was kissing her. The fact that she wasn't kissing back made him pull away so fast. With his eyes opened, he realized she had been staring at him.

He quickly turned his head and stared at the ground. What had he just done? She was on a date, and he had just broken up with her best friend. He was _royally_ screwed.

He cleared his throat and spread his fingers out on his knees. "Val…I am so sorry." He waited a few seconds for his apology to sink in. She hadn't said anything, and he could feel her still staring at him. He feared if he looked at her, he'd kiss her again.

A minute passed before he heard her quietly speak his name. He turned his head reluctantly and looked at her. Her eyes were wide open. He opened his mouth to apologize again when she cut him off – with her lips.

The shock didn't even settle in this time. Her hands found his face and his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer. Everything was on fire. _They_ were on fire. Just as he registered how many fireworks were happening he felt her fingers in his hair and nearly exploded. Bliss. This was bliss.

Until they heard someone yell.

Pulling away, they both recognized the voice as Talia's – and subsequently scurried up the stairs and ducked out of sight.

Talia had stopped yelling, but a new voice had drifted up to them. "Talia, please calm down."

Blake.

Tyson turned to look in Valerie's eyes right as she looked away. They both realized how deep they were in.

"Blake, I'm not talking to Jayden either so could you tell him to hang up?"

They didn't dare step out to look at what was happening.

"You just hang up! No, I don't wanna talk to hi–hey, Jayden…no…I don't know, Val was looking for him too…"

Val closed her eyes.

They heard footsteps fade, at which point Tyson dared to stand and look down. They were out of sight. He looked back at Valerie on the floor.

Biting her lip, she flipped some hair out of her face and quipped, "Bowling tomorrow should be a smash."

He held a hand out for her to take and helped her to her feet. Her foot slipped the tiniest bit and she collided with his chest. With her looking up at him…her being in his _arms_ …he let it out. "I think I'm in love with you."

It was quiet, but not enough to escape her ears. She leaned up and kissed him again. Just as it began to get heated again she broke it off. "Ty…I like you, but I'm not sure…"

He shook his head. "Don't worry; I wasn't expecting you to say it back." His eyebrows drew together. "I wasn't expecting myself to say it."

Valerie gave him a tiny smile. "We should probably go."

He nodded, scratching his head. "Tomorrow's gonna be rough."

She scoffed. "Tonight's gonna be rough. Except I don't have my phone, so maybe I won't hear much about anything."

He awkwardly looked away. "So…about Blake..."

Valerie looked up at him. "I'll handle it. Somehow."

 _Somehow._ He'd take what he could get.

~ . ~

Early that next morning, Blake had showed up at Val's doorstep.

Her father had been a little suspicious at first, as he didn't see them together before they went to the dance, but he had still gotten Val to the door. He made sure they knew he'd be right in the kitchen, but Val wasn't worried. About her dad, that was.

He asked her to come to his soccer practice – to support him. Everything about this made her uneasy. This didn't seem like a total girlfriend thing to do, but at the same time that was what she thought he was implying. She couldn't turn it down, and after grabbing her purse, they headed out.

The walk there wasn't the most comfortable conversation she'd been in, but it wasn't the worst. She had wanted to ask him if Jayden still had her phone, but didn't want to risk getting questions about the night before. Everything about this situation sucked.

Well maybe not everything.

She forgot Ty played soccer. As she sat on the sidelines, she wanted to cheer for him. He hadn't seen her arrive with Blake, but surely he had to know she was there, right? That was proven wrong the first time she yelled, "Go Blake!" His neck might as well have snapped with how fast he turned to look at her. He tripped over the soccer ball and went down in a heap. She covered her eyes and waited for someone to help him up.

She didn't feel right about coming anyway, and now it felt like a mistake.

~ . ~

He stormed into Fuccinelli's kitchen, sweating like a pig and covered in dirt.

"Uh uh!" Frenchie yelled immediately, grabbing Tyson by the shoulders and trying to force him back out. "You are _not_ coming in here looking like that!"

Ty had just come in for a bottle of water, but Frenchie refused until he had taken a shower. He did feel kind of bad for coming in through the front door (some of those customers would be sure to never come back) but right now he was too fired up.

He knew she had to work things out with Blake first. But rooting for him during their soccer practice? That was just the beginning of leading him on. It wouldn't be fun for anyone, and maybe he had gotten that point across. When Blake had noticed the cause of his trip, Ty had _possibly_ played a little more aggressively, as the two were pitted against each other for the practice. Maybe he was taking things too far, but he wasn't in a good mood.

He was plagued with all types of worries.

~ . ~

As expected, bowling was awkward.

She wasn't surprised Jayden skipped, as he was most likely still pursuing Talia, but she didn't have her phone. What did surprise her, though, was that Avery openly flirted with Chris – and he seemed to reciprocate. Not only did she not have her phone, but she felt like a third wheel, too.

It was around nine when Blake came. He looked tired and quite irritable, so that made everything worse for her. It was such a stark difference from how he was earlier. She actually thought he might skip too and she could drag things out for the rest of the day, but no. Couldn't anything be easy in Miami?

At first he didn't say much, and she began to worry. She had thought no one saw her and Ty the night before, but maybe she was wrong. She felt her nerves increase tenfold, so much to the point Chris noticed her bowling wasn't as great as it usually was. Jayden would have had fun with the prize money if he had shown up.

At a quarter 'til ten Blake motioned her over to the bowling ball racks and she knew something was up. Taking a deep breath and excusing herself from the game for a quick minute, she hurried over to her…boyfriend? She didn't think so; they'd only had one date, and they weren't exactly hands-on tonight so maybe nothing changed. She tried to breathe regularly when she made it over to him.

"What's up?" she asked in the most casual of tones.

He looked away for a second, and that was one more second for her to doubt her discreteness last night.

"Is everything alright?"

Blake caught her eye and said carefully, "I thought everything was."

She blinked fast. _Dear Lord, please tell me he doesn't mean what I think he means._ "Okay…" Maybe if she passed it off like she was oblivious, he'd drop it.

No such luck. "Listen. I, uh…well I heard that something… _happened_ …last night."

The way he looked up at her through his bangs should have made her heart skip a beat; and it did. Just for a different reason. "Are you, uh...what thing are you talking about? The breakup or what happened before the breakup?" She didn't want to reference their kiss directly.

He sighed and flicked his bangs out of his face. "How about what happened after the breakup?"

She shut her eyes and took a breath in. "Blake–"

"I'm not mad, if that's what you're thinking," he hurried to say, messing with one of the bowling balls.

"Who saw us?"

He coughed awkwardly. "Jayden was passing by the gym's doors and happened to…see some of what was going on."

Should she have been mad? Ultimately Jayden had saved her a lot of explaining, but she couldn't know for sure what she would do to him when she got her phone back.

"Sure you're not mad?" Valerie stared at him. "You have every reason to be."

"Eh, I mean…I know we were on a date, but at least you both were technically single?" He didn't seem to believe what he was saying. "It could've been worse."

She laughed, moving some hair out of her face. "You are such a good guy."

He nodded once, lips pressed together tightly. "I like to think so. I guess I'm just not a good guy for you."

She bit her lip. "I'm really sorry."

He shook his head. "It's fine, I suppose. Um…" He scratched his head. "I think I'm gonna get going."

She frowned. "I didn't mean to drive you away from bowling night."

He shrugged. "I wasn't in it for long. It's no big deal." He went and grabbed his jacket, then started heading for the door. "See ya around, Val."

She tried to smile. "Bye."

When the door closed she could feel a presence behind her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Avery's hair. "Is everything okay between you two?" she asked, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder.

Val nodded. "Yeah. We just, uh, decided a second date wouldn't be necessary."

Avery's face contorted. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I was actually gonna do that…" Something clicked in her mind. _Oh no._ "…anyway…" Turning, she ran to grab her purse and the candy she'd bought, stuffing it into her bag. "I gotta go."

Avery tried to block her. "Whoa, I thought you said you were okay?"

Val's hair flew everywhere as she attempted to go around her friend. "No, I am, I just." Groaning, she put her hands on her shoulders and said, "Why don't you go out on a date with Chris? All the flirting needs to be put to good use."

Avery's face turned red. "What?"

Val patted her shoulder and called back to her as she ran out, "Your face is as red as my hair, A!"

Chris turned around at that, and all Avery could do was look like a tomato.

~ . ~

Debbie just _had_ to bring Rudy into this, didn't she?

Rudy awkwardly walked around Fuccinelli's kitchen. "She'll find out eventually, so it may be better to tell her now," he said, stopping in front of Ty, who was seated on the counter.

Ty shook his head. "I'm still trying to figure out how _you_ know. Debbie told you, right?'

He nodded.

"So how'd she find out?"

Rudy moved his hair out of his face and looked away. "Ah…that's not important!" He reached out and yanked Ty off of the counter, spinning him around toward the door. "What is important is that you tell Talia right now."

"Rudy, no." Ty tried to push Rudy off of him, but he was a lot stronger than he thought.

Rudy shoved him so he was right in front of the door. "Seriously?"

"She's gonna be mad either way."

"Yeah, but maybe this will be to a lesser degree?"

Ty didn't have to look at him to know they both thought that was a lie.

The door swung open and in came Val, slamming into Ty's chest. "Whoa!" she yelled, skidding to a stop as his arms came to hold her.

Rudy took a step back. Dinner service was always cut short on Saturdays, so he knew he was alone in watching the awkwardness.

Thankfully, Debbie saw Val run in and followed soon after. Her hand held the door open as she stared at the scene in front of her. One glance at her boyfriend made her say, "Talk about unresolved sexual tension."

At that Ty let go of Val and took a step back, clearing his throat. "You okay?" he asked lowly.

Val nodded, eyes shining. She seemed less frantic for a moment.

"Did you, uh, _need_ something Val?" Rudy asked, his gaze flickering over to Deb. She didn't know if he was referring to Ty or not.

Val shook her head to clear it. "Yeah. Blake said that _Jayden_ told him what happened."

Deb bit her lip. Her twin looked over at her, and then Rudy. "Is that how you found out?" Ty asked, trying to stay calm.

They both nodded.

Val looked at him. "We gotta tell her before he does."

He exhaled loudly. "Let's go."

~ . ~

She should have realized Jayden saw her running into Fuccinelli's.

She should have figured he'd make a beeline to Lola's.

And she knew this wasn't going to end well when she and the other half of the problem nearly tackled Jayden in Lola's doorway.

"Let us tell her!" Ty yelled, clamping onto Jayden's back.

"Dude, get off!"

Val dropped to the floor and hooked onto his leg. "Please! You don't want to see her mad!" She took this moment to grab her phone from out of his pocket.

Jayden made a grunting noise, probably from the extra weight on his back. "C'mon, I think I've seen her mad more than anyone!"

"What are you doing?!"

All three of them looked up to see Talia in between the dining room and kitchen, eyes wide.

"Talia!" Val exclaimed, still on Jayden's leg.

"Talia!" Jayden echoed, trying to move forward.

Tyson just made a noise.

"I gotta tell you something!" Jayden said, attempting to push Ty off his back.

Val sunk her nails into his jeans. "Please, just let us!"

"Let you what?" Talia growled, crossing her arms. "And why is Tyson here? Did you come to apologize?"

He coughed. "Actually–"

Jayden shoved them both off of him at the same time, sending Tyson onto the floor and Val into a table. "These two hooked up last night."

Talia's eyes might have been on fire. "You what."

Tyson scrambled to make sure Valerie was okay, but she refused his help. No need to tangle their web further. "No, we didn't hook up!" she cried, clambering to her feet. Tyson stood next to her.

Jayden put his hands on his hips. "Oh really, then what were you doing?"

Tyson scratched the back of his neck. "We just, uh, kinda…made out."

"You _made out?"_ Talia nearly screamed, stepping closer to the trio.

Val put her hands to her face. "Talia."

Tyson threw an arm out. "If you saw us, then why didn't you tell her? You were on the phone with her after all."

Jayden shuffled his feet. "I thought she'd see you guys before I had to, but I guess you're better at hiding than I thought."

Val lifted her face up. "We didn't mean to, okay!"

Talia shook her head. "I should have known! You always seemed so concerned for her!"

"You would be too if you knew what she's been through!" Tyson yelled back.

"Ty," Valerie hissed, giving him a look.

"Why?" Talia asked loudly. "What has she been through?"

Ty shut his mouth. She was thankful for that, but he'd already said too much. She knew Talia wouldn't let this go. She shook her head and muttered, "I have a therapist."

Jayden raised an eyebrow. "You have a therapist?"

Talia didn't say anything at first, but she still looked mad. "Let me guess: you tell them about me?"

Valerie rubbed her arms. "I talk about a lot of stuff that gives me anxiety."

Jayden sucked in a loud breath.

Talia put her hands together. "You think I don't have anxiety too? You know all those times I would text you in the middle of the night?"

Valerie slowly nodded.

"I kept thinking about how Tyson seemed to pay attention to you too much, but you're my best friend, Val. Or at least I thought you were." She breathed. "I literally texted you so I stopped thinking about you."

Valerie pulled her hair to one side and said, "I'm sorry for what happened last night. But you have to understand that you have another person right here for you."

Talia stared. "You have Blake."

"No I don't."

Tyson almost pumped a fist into the air but thought better of it.

Jayden coughed. "Maybe I should go."

"No!" Talia stepped forward, pointing at her fellow spicemaster. "You and I need to talk." She looked at the two parts of the problem. "And you both need to leave."

"Talia," Valerie started.

"Get out!"

They scurried out of the restaurant like scared mice. Once outside, their situation really set in.

Just as Ty began to turn to Val, she said, "That wasn't a blessing."

He looked at her. "Quite frankly, I don't think we'll ever get one."

She shook her hair out. "Ty, things will get worse unless she calms down first."

He nudged her shoulder. "Talia never calms down."

In that moment, as she looked up at him with the stars twinkling in the sky, Jayden and Talia's loud voices were drowned out. How long had she liked him? She wasn't sure when it had actually started, but she'd known him for awhile. The thought made her smile.

"What?" he asked, unable to keep from grinning along with her.

Valerie shook her head. "Maybe we don't need a blessing," she said thoughtfully, then stood on her tip toes and threw an arm around his neck, yanking him down to her lips. It didn't matter that Talia could see them. It didn't matter that this was far from over.

She couldn't stay away from him even if she wanted to.

~ . ~

Frenchie was mad.

He wasn't particularly okay with Ty dating – were they actually dating? It felt like they were – his karaoke partner. Every time he saw Ty he went off on another tangent. Deb tried to help out, but he wasn't sure he cared.

He didn't care that Talia was still pissed at them, or that she wouldn't allow him anywhere near Lola's. Dolores would finally stop throwing buckets of water on him. He didn't care that Jayden had gotten way closer to Talia than he had in a few years. The two spicemasters went together way better than he and Talia did.

So why should he care about Frenchie's qualms in regard to his relationship?

It had been about a week since everything had gone down, and he'd be lying if he said nothing had changed. Blake seemed to retreat back to his own group of friends, and admittedly Ty felt a little bad about that – not bad enough to get him back with Val, of course, but still bad.

He wasn't sure if any of the others were allowed in Lola's, but he was certain Val was banned for awhile too. That was fine with them. She had gotten him to accompany her to a few of her community center classes, which were actually fun. They weren't exactly trying to keep their distance for others' sakes, but they weren't really hanging out with the group either. This proved to be a good decision as it gave everyone else a chance to recover from the huge fallout.

Debbie wasn't choosing sides, so she wasn't in the mess; Rudy acted like he knew nothing; and Chris and Avery basically _did_ know nothing. Julie stood by her sister, which was expected, and shunned Ty and Val. However, Jayden was on cloud nine. Talia, as mad as she was, apparently didn't let her troubles keep her from flirting with him.

All of this sat well with Ty until Friday rolled around.

He'd heard through the grapevine that Lorena managed to convince The Spoon critic to stop by again that week, and honestly he was happy for Lola's. Their food was amazing and they deserved a second chance. The Grubb Truck still hadn't regained their permit, so Jayden was free to help them out. Each day after work Debbie had given him a full rundown on her day, and each day The Spoon hadn't shown. She was starting to worry he wouldn't come at all, but he made his reappearance on Friday.

And then everything exploded yet again.

It seemed nothing wanted to go right when The Spoon was around, and tonight was no exception. Rudy had acquired a cold and was kicked out of the kitchen right off the bat. Without Valerie there either, no one was able to wait tables. Vinnie's mother, who now worked as head sous chef since Debbie had more social outings, got called off to the hospital after her husband fell down a flight of stairs. Rocky went on a family vacation, Dolores couldn't cook, and Julie had to do some studying, so that left Talia, Jayden, and Debbie – even the inexperienced helpers Lorena had hired two years back couldn't make it. This was sure to bring about another quarrel between Talia and Lorena.

Val, Avery, Chris, and Ty were hanging out in Fuccinelli's kitchen (Frenchie had a date for once and closed down the restaurant for the night) when Rudy ran in to give them an update.

Val released Ty's hand and slid down from the counter. "Rudy, you look awful," she observed, coming to examine his face.

"You look stoned," Ty added. Rudy's eyes did look really red.

Rudy turned away and sneezed violently into his elbow. Avery grimaced, wrinkling her nose. "Yeah, I know," he acknowledged, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

Chris made a noise of disapproval. "That's gross, dude."

Ty laughed and swung his legs, asking, "What's going on? You get kicked out of Lola's?"

"By my own girlfriend, yes." Rudy sniffled and stepped deeper into the kitchen. Val followed behind him. "But there's a problem."

Val's blue eyes found Ty's. She looked worried. "What's wrong?" he asked, hopping off of the counter.

"We only have three people working over at Lola's, and none of them can wait tables."

Val breathed, "What? Who's not there?"

Rudy coughed five times before answering, "Well obviously not me, Vinnie's mom had an emergency, Rocky's out of town, and Dolores and Julie can't help tonight."

"What about the help Lorena hired?"

"Can't make it."

Avery pulled out her phone as Chris commented, "We could help out."

Ty turned to face him. "Yeah, you two can, but Val and I are still banned."

Rudy sneezed again. "Doesn't matter. If you help us out now, I'm sure that'll break down Talia's anger."

Avery waved her phone around. "Debbie says she needs us _now._ The Spoon just walked in."

Chris clapped his hands together. "Then let's get over there!" He and Avery jumped off the counter and the five of them rushed out the door, nearly getting jammed.

~ . ~

It wasn't like she _expected_ Talia to be happy.

"Uh uh! No! Rudy, get them out of here!"

But she definitely didn't think she'd react like this.

"Talia, I'm sorry–" Valerie tried to no avail.

"Jayden!" Talia screeched, shoving the boy in front of her. "Kick them out!"

Debbie covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.

Jayden glanced back at her. "No way! We need the help."

"Come _on_ , just do it!" She placed her hands on his back and pushed him towards the group from Fuccinelli's.

Chris stepped in front of them. "Alright!" he yelled, ceasing the noise. "We can focus on the married couple later, but right now we have to be serious!"

Talia ripped off her hat and threw it behind her. "This _is_ serious, Chris! Gosh, does no one remember what happened last week?"

Ty coughed into his hand and looked away.

Avery raised a hand.

Talia's smile was completely false as she called on her. "Yes, Avery, do you remember what happened last Friday?"

Avery grinned back and said, "Well, if I remember correctly," then dropped her sweet tone, "your two-timing ass got dumped and you have the audacity to be mad at people who waited until you were out of the picture to kiss."

Jayden's eyes widened and he nearly ran out the back door right then.

Tyson narrowed his eyes at Talia. "What?"

She gulped nervously and put her hands together. "Okay, I accept your help. Let's get cooking; don't want to keep The Spoon waiting!" She walked over to Debbie and grabbed a knife to begin dicing.

Valerie tilted her head and asked, "What did she mean by 'your two-timing ass'?"

Rudy rushed to answer. "Um, I think she was just referring to how Talia always jumped back and forth between Jayden and Tyson." He looked to Avery, hoping she could read the message in his eyes. "Right, Avery?"

She knew what he wanted her to say, but that didn't mean she would. She shook her head. "No, actually, I was referring to three weeks ago when I caught her and Jayden on a date at the mall and they begged me not to tell anyone."

"Look, I don't like you, but that was three. Weeks ago," Tyson shook his head, hitting his leg for emphasis as each pause.

Jayden put his hands up and took a step back. "In my defense, all the other times we had dates she was single, so why was I supposed to think different?"

Debbie made an unsettling noise. "Iiiii'm not sure how comfortable I am being here during this conversation."

Chris put up a hand. "Me either. Can we leave?"

Talia put the knife down. "Hey, you're the one who broke up with me, so don't try to–"

"That was last week!" Ty cut her off, raising his volume.

"You liked Valerie the entire time we dated!"

"I didn't like Little Red the entire time!"

Rudy's eyebrows furrowed. "Little Red?"

Tyson could've smacked himself. "Valerie. I said I didn't like _Valerie_ the entire time."

Talia chose to skip over the whole nickname thing and settle for responding to his statement. "So what, just most of the time?"

He didn't speak for a moment. "Kinda?"

"KINDA?"

"CAN WE PLEASE JUST COOK?" Valerie cut in. She never yelled, so the whole group jumped back. She took a deep breath. "Please?"

They all nodded. Rudy was sentenced to the corner, where his cold wouldn't spread. Ty and Val became the waiters/waitresses and Avery and Chris took on the role of delivering the food. With the food distribution taken care of, Jayden, Talia, and Debbie could continue cooking.

~ . ~

The night was a long one, but by the time eleven rolled around all the customers had come and gone.

To say nothing of the pile of tissues by Rudy, the kitchen was a mess. Debbie, Jayden, and Talia's hair was all disheveled, Avery's hands had marks on them from carrying plate after plate to the dining room, Chris' afro had literally been cut during one of his trips back to the kitchen when his hair got in his face, and Tyson and Valerie's throats were sore from talking to so many people.

"So overall," Rudy called from the floor, pausing to cough. "How do you think tonight went?"

Debbie began to pull bobby pins out of her hair. "Well, while you definitely won't be in another kitchen tomorrow, I'd say tonight was a success."

Jayden nodded, wiping a hand across his forehead. "We did pretty well for being so understaffed."

"And we didn't fight once!" Valerie noted, grinning from ear to ear. Maybe this had really helped the issue at hand.

Chris pointed a finger at her, reaching up to touch his hair. "Hey, I'm still holding Debbie personally responsible for chopping my hair off."

Debbie scoffed. "You've needed a haircut since third grade; you're welcome."

He jerked his head back, turning to look at Avery. She gave him a knowing look and nodded.

Rudy got to his feet and leaned against the stove. "So. Everything's good now?"

Tyson put a hand to his face. "Dude."

Debbie shook her head and walked over to her boyfriend, gripping his shoulders. "I'll take him back home."

He could be heard drowsily saying, "What'd I do?" before she had gotten him out the back door.

Talia looked away for a moment. When she looked back, she tried to smooth things over. "I was going to tell you eventually," she said to Ty, taking her uniform jacket off.

Avery snorted. "Yeah right. You were never going to tell him." Talia's eyes burned holes in her own. Avery crossed her arms. "And I guess you thought I wouldn't either because, what? I'm usually mute?"

Chris coughed loudly and patted her back. "We'll leave you four to it." He steered her through the swinging door and could be heard chastising her actions.

Everyone was silent for a moment. Jayden was the one to break the spell. "In a way, we all have something to be sorry for…so maybe this was meant to come out." When Val looked at him he just shrugged. "Things worked out how they were supposed to, right?"

Talia wiped her eyes. "I know I can be a real bitch sometimes, but that's just my personality." She honed in on Ty. "I can own up to my mistakes. I'm sorry for cheating on you. We didn't do anything except window-shop."

Jayden winced. "It's true. What a letdown."

Talia cut her eyes at him.

"I-I mean, what luck?"

Valerie looked over at Tyson. "How are you taking this?" she whispered, leaning into his side.

Ty stared at her for a moment, just thinking. Then he swung an arm around her shoulder and announced, "I'm sorry I didn't let you down easy awhile ago, because, honestly…" He sucked in a breath. "I've liked Val since I was five."

Talia didn't exactly look mad, more of confused. "Since you were five?"

Val looked up at him. "Five?"

He smiled down at her. "More or less."

She bit her lip to keep from grinning too much.

Jayden moved closer to his fellow spicemaster. "They do look pretty cute, T."

"HELL YEAH THEY DO!"

Their heads whipped around to see Chris pulling Avery away from the swinging door's circular window. "She's still kinda new to this whole 'expressing your feelings' thing," he explained, yanking them out of view.

Tyson stifled a laugh. Soon Talia was chuckling too, and the room filled with giggles.

Val tucked her hair behind her ear and admitted, "It feels really nice to talk again."

Talia smiled. "It does. Maybe I overreacted a little bit."

Ty shrugged. "You might've yelled too much, but that's regular. We dated for a few years, so I feel like that was a natural response."

Jayden cut back in. "You guys are done _officially_ , right?"

Talia sighed, but her smile made it clear she didn't mind his eagerness. "Yes, Jayden, we're officially done."

Tyson gave Val's shoulder a squeeze. "I'm not letting this one get away."

She giggled. "Not a chance."

And they knew they were serious.

* * *

 **Yup. So screwed. Oh well. I know not many people watch this show - or ship this ship, for that matter - but after writing this nonstop for three days I would really appreciate reviews.**


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